Pilgrims’ camps for international airports

President Goodluck Jonathan has directed appropriate authorities to build pilgrims camps at the nation’s international airports.

The President gave the directive yesterday in Abuja when he received the report of the Federal Government’s delegation to the 2013 Christian pilgrimage, led by the National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor.

After discussing the matter with relevant ministers, Jonathan said the Federal Government would start budgeting for the facilities to cover the affected airports.

The President explained that facilities at the camps could be used for other purposes when they are not used for pilgrimage.

He said: “Pilgrims camps should be built inside all international airports in Nigeria. We must build these facilities for Christian and Muslim pilgrims since many people are being moved about the same time every year.

“The government must take steps to provide such facilities. Such facilities can also be used for other things when they are not deployed for pilgrimage.

“We will discuss with the ministers and we will begin to budget for it so that gradually, we will begin to provide the facilities at our international airports, especially the ones that are being used for this purpose.”

To ease the movement of pilgrims, Jonathan assured that the Nigerian government would pursue the implementation of the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with the State of Israel to a logical conclusion.